April 1, 2016

White Dog was a willing learner when I was VERY sick years ago when I taught her the "Go get dad NOW!"  command. No matter where she is or what she is doing, when I give her that order she is off like a white lightening version of Lassie barking her message to Steve...and he has been trained to respond to her urgency...thankfully.

Steve had been making breakfast when Puff came up to him in the kitchen and indicated in no uncertain terms that SHE had an immediate need to go outside. He grabbed her in his arms, flipped off the burner and rushed out the door.

I was in the living room brushing out Benson flat on his side at my feet in a near swoon of bliss. We were focused on this shared moment when something came creeping in to interrupt us.

SMOKE! Lots of it! The kitchen was a grey haze.

Suddenly Bella, Benson, Nilla, and Stormer were milling around me disconcerted and very concerned. I could not tell what the problem in the kitchen was nor could I get there. "STEVE!" I bellowed but he was still in the yard. "STEVE."

Stormer was having a PTSD episode; at some point in his unknown past he must have been in a situation that involved fire or smoke...a situation that was awful. He began to quake and howl in agony. I feared he was going into a seizure but it was pure panic.

"Siku! Go get dad NOW!" I called to her. She was still dozing in the office. But I heard her instant reaction as the dog door banged and she started barking.

The kitchen door flew open. "What's wron...oh my god!" He grabbed the pan with a hot pad and plunged it into the sink. At the same time Steve flipped on the faucets, opened the kitchen window and closed the door to the front room to keep the smoke out.

I was clutching Stormer in my arms at this point; he was so distraught. "It is all right, baby. We got it, You are safe." Still he shook with terror.

Steve slipped through the closed door and opened the front door for us. He began to cough. Quickly the cough turned to an asthma attack. Fortunately his inhalator and a few minutes of deep breathing while at rest brought him back to normal. C.A.Stormer had also calmed down although he was not leaving my side.

Steve came and sat on the floor in the middle of our huddle. "I am SO sorry everyone. Puff needed to go out so urgently that I grabbed her and turned off the bacon but I forgot I had started heating the butter for the scrambled eggs. The butter is what was burning."

He took Storm's head into his lap, "Buddy I hate the fact that I made you relive whatever memory you just did. I wish I could erase all the pain you ever felt. Can you forgive me?"

C.A.Stormer looked into Steve's face then bent to lick his hand.

White Dog and Zsofia came in through the dog door leading a wobbly but walking Puff. "What a day," WD observed. "and we haven't even had breakfast yet!"